Feiedeich ottenstein



Jan. 12, 1932. F OTTENSTEIN 1,840,914

TRACK FOR TOY RAILWAYS Filed June 5. 1931 /n venfor':

Patented Jan. 12, 1932 Unit w en A n STATES, PATENT "'oF ice rmnnnrcn OTTENSTEIN, on NUREMBERG, GERMAiiTY TRACK non. troY 'fE-tAILWAYS Application filed June 5, 193-1, Serial no.

which in antom'atlcally reversing locomotives result in the locomotive comingto rest and involve constant switching over. This de- 1 tect is put down to the circumstance that in the'mass productionofthe'setrack sections on.

the one hand the pin and soldered connecti'ons between the track substructure and the rails cannot be madewith suiiicient accuracy and on the other hand that the insulation ci*one part froman'other is difiicult to carry shown more especially p 3 alone without rails,

out. Experiencehas that coating of nsulaticn on the inner side of the wheel'does not last, so that the sliding contact and the badly insulated wheels of the locomotive both at the same time make contact with the same piece of rail, thereby causing a short circuit of the electric 'current.

These disadvantages are overcome accordingto the invention by the insertion between the rail joints of the tracks at-the crossings or points of solid" fitting pieces. ting pieces, as is known in the case of complete connecting piecesfor points and crossgings, have incisions in which the rails to be oined up can to I the general ru-n'of the rails,

m ing t0 the invention the fittin pieces consist of aseparately made, pressed 'piece of insulatingor other material, which is adapted t'o be screwed to and unscrewed from a sleeper'orother'part of the track As the fitting -piec'es replacing the latter. can be pressed very accurately, they make possible a very accurate transition at the crossings .ofithe rails." They provide for the vehicle wheels rolling over these crossing places an almost continuous guide and inanother electrically.

10f many short-circuits beinserted such. a manner that they form a continuation of the raised 1 542,437, and in Germany dune 10,1930. 7

which carry-current but do not belongto one There is thefurther advantage that they can be easily installed 7 into the sections of track to be put together @5- by the playing child, and-can'thus be used as a constructionaltoyelement, but are also suitable for insertion in rail sections supplied by the factory asa complete unit.

4 In the accompanying drawings variousfi constructionalexamples of the invention "are shown as applied to a switch-and a crossng =V r I Figs. 1 and 2- rep resenting a switch and crossing seen from :above, "to a reduced 9 scale with diagrammatically shown securing view of a fitting piece lying immediately behind the switch blades, which is mounted on a toy sleeper, is Fig. 45 the fitt'ing piece accordingto Fig.

I Fig. 5 the fitting ipiece accordin'g" toFig. 3 in section alongline ofFig. 4,

Fig.6 the fitting piece 'according"to-F-ig.gg seen from below,

Fig-7 a plan view a rai'l crossing, Fig. 8 the fitting 5f the middlepart t piece belonging to the middle piece'according to Fig. 7 alone with-215 out rails, I. I

Fig. :9 the fitting piece accordingto Fig. 8 in section along line BB, r V

Fig. 10 a fitting piece for the intersection of 1 the" two inner rails of'th'e crossingor .the crossing plate of the switch, seen from above, T Fig. 1 1 the fitting piece: according tofFig. l0 'without'rails," i p y i F ig. 12 the fitting pieceaccording to'Fig., 7. '11 in section along line CC of Fig.- 11, and? 7 Figs. 13and a supplementary piece to be dispoied behind thegfitting piece according to Fig-Q11 in plan view and end view. 1 According toFig. 1, from a straight track 1, 1a,;1bia curtved' track 2,2a, Qb'brariches oil'. I

behind. the switch blades 3,14 is a fitting'piece; ofinsujlating material, such as steatite, hard rubben celluloid, vulcanizedfibreuor the like material, Another ifittingloo' Immediately.

piece 6 is provided at the place of intersection of the two inner rails 1a, 1b and 2a, 2b.

The fitting piece 5 to be fixed by means of screws 5a (Fig. 3) on a sleeper 7 consists of an elongated plate, the end edges 8, 9 of which (Fig. 4) extend parallel to the rails 1, 2 and form the abutments for the latter, when the rails are pressed by the clips 10 provided on the sleeper 7 by means of the screws 10a against the fitting piece 5 (Fig. 3). Between the blades 3, 4 and the rails 1a, 2a are disposed so as to be flush with the said parts 3, 4, 1a, 2a, two short bars. 11, 12 projecting upwards from the plate 5 and two incisions 13, 14 behind the said bars (Figs. 4, 5, 6). The bars 11, 12 are of such a shape that with the blades 3, 4 and the rails la, 2a forming their forward and rearward continuation they form a practically jointless smooth and uninterrupted track. The incisions 13, 14 are made such that the webs and flanges of the rails 1a, 2a can be tightly fitted into'them. On the under side of the plate 5 is agroove 15 for the reception of a live rail fish-plate, which in electrically operated railways are inserted between the plate 5 and the sleeper 7 and are held in position by the screw 5a. There are further provided on the under side of the plate 5 two recesses 16 which act as bearings for the pivot pins on the switch blades. I

For assembling the switch the plate 5 and the clips 10 are first screwed loosely on the sleeper 7 and the blades 3 and 4 inserted whereupon the rails and the rail ends are pushed in and finally the four fixing screws 10a and 5a are tightened.

According to Figs. 2 and 7 two straight tracks 17'17f and 18-187 cross over a broad middle sleeper 19. The fitting piece 20 which is inserted between the crossing rail sections has side edges 21 forming obtuse re-entrant angles (Fig. 8), raised parts 22, 23, 23a, 24 and incisions 25, 26 at the end sides. The incisions 25, 26 are flush with the raised parts 23a, 23 lying next to them and are of such a shape that the rail pieces 17 a, 18a and 176, 180 can be pushed into them so as to fit tightly. Furthermore, the raised parts 23, 23a and 24 are of such a shape that they constitute pieces of track forming a continua-' tion of the said pieces of rail. The raised parts 22 form an inner guide for the vehicle wheels running over the crossing. The rails '17, 18 and 170,, 180'are pressed by clips 27 provided on the sleeper 19 and by means of screws 27 (1 against the side edges 21, which at the places in question recede with respect to the raised parts 24 by the width of the rail.

The parts to be mounted on the sleeper 19 are fixed in a similar way to the switch parts shown in Figs. 3 to 6. The pressed piece 20 is fixed by screws 28 to the sleeper-19.

Figs. 10 to 14 show a fitting piece 6 for the 1 crossing of two inner rails, which can be used steam or clockwork,

both for switches and for crossings. This fitting piece 6 which is fixed by a screw 29a to a sole-plate 29, is provided with incisions 30, 31, 32, 33 (Fig. 11) and raised parts 34, 35 which extend at an obtuse angle and supplement the track and a wedge shaped block 36. Into the incisions 30 to 33 either the rails 1a, 2a, 1b, 2b of the switch according to Fig. 1 or the rails 17 f, 18 17 e, 186 or 17a, 18a, 17b, 186 (Fig. 2) are inserted. For the sake of stability a small fitting wedge piece 37 is inserted in each case behind the fitting piece 6 and is fixed by means of a screw 38 to the sole-plate 29. The rails are again held securely against the wedge-shaped piece 37 by clips which are not shown.

In the case of pieces of track for railways which are not operated electrically but by it is not necessary for these fitting pieces to be made of an insulating material. They may instead be made of light metal, for instance of die castings or the like. The fittingpieces may also be made of a material which is easily tooled, for instance can be carved, so that older and more skillful boys can make the parts themselves. lNhat I claim is:

1. In a track for toy railways a fitting piece for switches and crossings, having raised parts and incisions adjacent to the said raised parts forthe insertion of the rail ends, such that the rails are flush with the said raised parts at the switches and crossings, and means whereby the fitting piece can be screwed to and unscrewed from the sleeper or other support, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a track for toy railways a fitting piece made of pressed material for switches and crossings, having raised partsand incisions adjacent to the said raised parts for the insertion of the rail ends, such that the rails are flush with the said raised parts at the switches and. crossings, and means whereby the fitting piece can be screwed to and unscrewed from the sleeper or other support, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a track for toy railways a fitting piece for switches and crossings, havin raised parts and incisions adjacent to the said raised parts for the insertion of the rail ends, such that the rails are flush with the said raised parts at the switches and crossings, means whereby the fitting piece can be screwed to and unscrewed from the sleeper or other supportand having side abutments for supporting the rails which do notend in the incisions of the fitting piece, but extend past them, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a track for toy railways a fitting piece for the pivotal points of switch blades, having'raised parts and incisions adjacent to the said raised parts for the insertion of the rails ends, such that the rails are flush with the said raised parts at the switches and crossings, means whereby the fitting piece can be screwed to andvunscrewed from the sleeper or other support and two lateral abutment surfaces disposed with respect to one another at the entering angle of the branching-011 line for the outer rails and two depressions the switch blades, as

for the pivot pins of forth. V

and for the purpose set In testimony whereof I name to this specification.

FRIEDRIOHOTTENSTEINQ p 1 have signed. my 7 

